Nasi Goreng and Ox-Tail Stew:(Image of Larry in his disco suit on the left.) It will take a myriad of postings to document Larry Lai's tales and adventures as a broadcaster, so I have decided to write snippets of what he told me in the past weeks while we were busy enjoying our nasi-goreng, ox-tail stew and mango-ice cream. These postings will never do justice to his varied and interesting career at Rediffusion and his expertise as a broadcaster in Singapore, but here goes.
Rediffusion Requesters:
My chat with Larry in the 3rd interview ended when I asked him about Rediffusion requesters. Many Singapore youths who lived in the early 60s knew that it was fashionable among pop song requesters to have their lengthy, western names announced over the air. Cheap thrill if you call it, but it was youth culture then.
Rediffusion Requesters:
My chat with Larry in the 3rd interview ended when I asked him about Rediffusion requesters. Many Singapore youths who lived in the early 60s knew that it was fashionable among pop song requesters to have their lengthy, western names announced over the air. Cheap thrill if you call it, but it was youth culture then.
These ego-maniacs found it exciting to hear their names on the airwaves. When I discussed with Larry about Rediffusion 'friends' like, Elvis Jonathan Wee, Cliff Ricardo Tan and Cilla Debbie Soon, he explained that besides having unique names, they also had strange habits.
"When they found out where my future wife lived and where I parked my car during my visits to her home, they used my windscreen as a postbox, slipping their heavily decorated, request postcards between the wipers. Every morning it was extra work for me, as I had to clear the tons of mail accumulated. And if it rained the night before..."
He took his listeners seriously and made sure he answered every postcard and request for songs on air. Woe betide Larry Lai if he failed to do so because there would be repercussions. He would be in trouble... The requesters would write him nasty letters.
Larry remarked that oddities like these came with his work. But it made the only cable station in Singapore a hit with our 60s youths. The exceptionally popular request programme stretched from one to four hours daily.
Other Request Programmes:
There were many pop music request programmes those years. On radio there was Claude Doral with his, 'Saturday Date', Kingsley Morando (Mr Talentime) with, 'To Each His Own' and Maisie Concaecio with her morning 9am stint called, 'Calling All Hospitals.' where she answered requests for hospital patients. Larry had much competition those days but according to seniors today (they were young once), nothing beat Larry Lai's request programme on Rediffusion, where he really played the latest and the best.
(Only music and personalities from the 50s to the 70s are posted on this blog. This article is the fourth posting about Larry Lai. For 3 previous interviews Click Larry Lai under labels below.)
Image: Larry Lai Collection. (All rights reserved)
Original article: Andy Lim
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